Poppin' Arms Guild ~ Infirmary

[Negrek]

"Depends what you mean, I guess. Red's the one who brought Giovanni down in my world, and if that sort of shit is pretty much the same wherever you go, then he oughta be the one who's wrecked Giovanni's shit over and over again in all kinds of universes. That's why it's weird they were working together to begin with. Giovanni would have to be super fucking sure he had Red on-side to risk having him do his dirty work for him. He sure as hell ain't stupid. You know he's been one step ahead of us the whole damn time he's been here, so to have him go out like this? I don't like it."

Nate tapped a foot, scowling while he thought. "Obviously he's fucked up before, or he'd still be riding high in my world, too. But you don't get to be leader of Team Rocket by being a dumbass. Even if this ain't planned somehow, some kinda trick to get him and his crew into Destiny Village, get people's guards down, whatever, we might still have a mole hanging out. And if we do, well, obviously if they want Giovanni's eternal gratitude, ain't no better opportunity than bailing his ass out now." Nate tilted his head. "Now he's all uncorrupted and in custody and all, is there any way Buffet can, like, shoot his soul back home or whatever the fuck? Seems like that'd be the best thing."

 

[Namohysip]

"That is a possibility," said Maple. "Well, to an extent. I think if we tried, we would be able to send him back to his world... if we know where it is. Since Buffet was not the one to bring him here, he does not know immediately how to return him."

"And to add, he may still be useful to interrogate for who the spies are," Truffle added.

"...And if things go badly, we can also kill him," Maple considered idly.

 

[Negrek]

"Well, personally, I wouldn't trust shit that this guy says, so interrogation don't mean much to me," Nate said. "Like, sure, maybe you've got a psychic who's good at detecting lies, but Giovanni's probably an even more powerful psychic, so he'd be able to trick them, right?"

Nate glanced at Maple when she mentioned a little murder to solve their problem. Zero surprise she suggested it, honestly. "If we send Giovanni back where he came from, is there any way to stop him from just coming right back here? Because if not... Yeah, we're going to have to do something permanent, ain't we? Otherwise a few weeks, years, whatever, it'll be the same shit all over again."

Even if they could guarantee that sending Mewtwo home meant he'd never come back, well, that'd just be making him someone else's problem, wouldn't it? It wasn't like he was going to have some kind of change of heart and use his billions to feed the poor or whatever the fuck once he got kicked out of Cibus. This was certainly a chance to get rid of a Giovanni for good. And if you had that chance... shouldn't you take it?

Nate rubbed his face, sighing. This was exactly why he didn't want any part of this world-saving bullshit. Leave it for somebody else to figure all this fucked-up stuff out.

 

[Namohysip]

"...Mm. That's true." Maple hummed. "I was hoping that between a powerful Psychic and someone like you or Owen, we might be able to discern at least an attempt at a lie." She glanced at Nate. "We also do not know the means in which Giovanni became a Mewtwo. If it's reversible, that will solve a lot of our problems. Sending him away as a Mewtwo will harm another world, and due to my occupation, I'm not keen on that possibility." Maple looked to Nate. "I'll be honest, I am not normally someone who goes for the 'kill' option. It is only available when the thing we are fighting cannot otherwise be contained or weakened, and won't stop being a risk otherwise. It's... just the only option remaining. And everything I have heard about Giovanni suggests that he was dangerous enough as a human."

 

[Negrek]

"Oh. Yeah. Someone like Owen might be able to do it. I'd just be worried about the guy being able to bamboozle them, too. Fuck with their head, you know, pretty literally. Like Giovanni ain't got his disruption shit no more, but he's stronger than Karat, I think, and Karat didn't have a problem with the holding cell he was in before. Unless we're sure we got his psychic-ness fully turned off, I wouldn't want to risk it," Nate said. "And you're right. Even sending him back as a human wouldn't be great, unless maybe we decided to deliver him directly to jail sometime when nobody knew where he was and could come and bust him out or whatever the fuck. But, you know. I figure it's on you to decide what the right way to go here would be." Nate gave Maple a crooked smile. "You got way more experience than any of the rest of us with this shit, for sure."

 

[Namohysip]

Maple mirrored his smile, but then evened out and glanced at Truffle. "We should certainly keep security around Giovanni and Mewtwo at its maximum possible. And... from there, consider durability measurements. Keep it ethical."

"Of course." Truffle said, looking vaguely uncomfortable despite that. "Perhaps we can just perform analyses of strength with a few scanners. And try the same with Blacklight Mewtwo..."

"Thank you for the insight, Nate," Maple added, nodding at him. "I'm feeling confident that we, knowing where Giovanni is now, can keep him under control. The problem is if we are unable to locate the spies that may sabotage this..."

 

[Negrek]

Nate laughed. "Sure, insight. Right." He looked back up at Red for a minute, considering. But there really wasn't much they could do right now with the guy passed out in any case. Everybody was bound to be tired out after that fight, though at least it didn't look like anybody'd gotten fucked up bad enough to land in the infirmary this time. Maybe Red was a gentle guy after all. "Thanks for keeping an eye on them, anyhow. If there's any spies around, they've got real shit to contend with, no question there."

What was Cibus' usual idea of justice? Did they execute people here? It was maybe kind of fucked up that Nate had spent as long as he had adventuring around, beating the shit out of people, without considering if there were, like, actual laws or courts or people's jobs it was to keep the peace, instead of a bunch of interdimensional assholes just showing up because they felt a disturbance in the Force or whatever the fuck. But then again, Mewtwo was an interdimensional asshole himself. Kind of an edge case to begin with.

"Come on, Rocky," Nate said. The familiar looked inclined to stick around until Red woke up. "You want to tell me every tiny fucking detail about how that battle went, didn't you? Better get over here before I'm gone." And Rocky did, of course, have a great deal to say about the battle. By the time they'd reached Parfait Way, it didn't sound like the story was even halfway done.

<><><>​

 

[Sudmensch]

The doors were pushed open as an unconscious Feraligatr was wheeled in, his body bruised and beaten all over (and dripping wet, oddly enough). The downed river monster was set on a bed with a creak and left to recover from his rather one-sided encounter.

 

[Namohysip]

"...Toffee," Zinc concluded with a sigh. "We did put signs up not to surf in the dorms..."

"Poor idiot," Poffin remarked. The Slaking looked like he had just run a marathon. "Toffee's scary when she's mad. No wonder you guys have her at the front..."

"As long as she isn't caught off guard," Zinc said, sighing. "If only she noticed when Red was attacking her..."

 

[IFBench]

On another bed, a Bayleef with an autumn-red leaf laid, covered with still-healing wounds. Their mind raced with thoughts.

What exactly happened back there? They were fighting...themselves. They tried to use Shining Sunbeams...

Then...they exploded, like Astrid always did. And now they're here.

Nate and Dave were there, too. Did they hurt them? They really hoped they didn't, but what if they did?

And what about that shadowy Chikorita? It was everything they feared themselves to be...

Suddenly, they heard a noise. Someone must have come in. They moved their neck to look and see who it was, a worried expression on their face.

 

[Sudmensch]

Dill groaned, having just awoken. He moved to sit up, only to cringe as his chest screamed at him.

"Crap... eugh," he moaned. The Feraligatr flopped down onto his bed, paying no mind to those also in the infirmary watching him. As the events that had landed him here returned to him, his maw curled into a frown.

"Talk about overreacting..."

 

[Namohysip]

"Hold still, hold still," Zinc said, getting what seemed to be a few berries. "You really did a number to the dorms, didn't you? Well, it's a good thing you guys are getting new homes."

 

[IFBench]

"What...happened to the dorms?" Saltriv asked, now looking at the Feraligatr. He seemed to be in pretty bad shape...they hoped he would be ok.

 

[Namohysip]

"They used Surf," Zinc said, sighing. "It's going to take a while to clean that all out from all the nooks and crannies..."

 

[Sudmensch]

"I didn't mean to...!" Dill protested, still clutching his chest.

 

[IFBench]

That all happened because he used Surf? Seemed like an awful lot more injuries than the move would cause...

Either way, they didn't think they met him before. They should probably ask his name.

"Who...are you?" they Bayleef asked.

 

[Sudmensch]

Dill noticed the Bayleef for the first time, raising an eyebrow at their unusual coloring.

"Whoa, you're shin-? Sorry, sorry, you probably get that a lot," he coughed, his tail twitching. He wasn't sure whether name-sharing was the same around here, but he decided to take his chances.

"Name's Dill, Dill the T- er, Feraligatr," he introduced himself.

 

[IFBench]

"Yep! I'm...shiny," the Bayleef said, a smile on their face. "My name's...Saltriv. It's nice to meet you."

Saltriv tried to wave their leaf at the Feraligatr, but in doing so, accidentally reopened a tear on it. Pain shot through their body, causing them to emit a small cry of pain.

 

[Namohysip]

"Ah, ah, don't move too much. Those explosions really do a number on you warriors..." Zinc sighed. "Okay. Stay put and don't strain yourself, alright? I need to go and check on some other patients." And with that, the Goodra left them to their own devices.

 

[Sudmensch]

Watching Zinc go, Dill blinked confusedly.

"Explosions? You... probably shouldn't ask," he sighed. "Well, uhm... wanna chat? Got nothing else to do, I guess. You start, uh, Sal-triv."

He butchered the pronunciation.